Unhealthy Lifestyle Among the Singapore Youth Report

Introduction

The purpose of this report was to identify the reason for the continued unhealthy lifestyle among the Singapore youth despite the government’s efforts to promote healthier diets and lifestyles and find viable solutions to the problem.

The report was requested by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) a government agency on July 1^st, 2009. The company that undertook the research is Research R-us, a highly reputable company in research services.

Background

Studies conducted have shown that the youth are at the risk of premature death due to an unhealthy lifestyle trend. This trend has put them at the risk of heart attacks, stroke, and other related illnesses. Singaporean youths are in danger too. A survey was done by HPB which randomly selected primary four students showed that they have health issues. Eighty were obese; six had Type 1 diabetes; twelve had mild hypertension and forty elevated cholesterol levels. Therefore HBP undertook a campaign to encourage students to lead healthier lifestyles but the trend has not changed completely and many youths are still in danger of premature deaths.

Methodology

Due to time and monetary constraints, the researcher used secondary data to compile this report. This involved reviewing articles, journals, and electronic materials especially the ones related to unhealthy lifestyles among school children and youths in Singapore.

Findings And Presentation

1. The youth are not concerned about their health because they feel invulnerable at their age but later in life they suffer.
2. Some youths engage in unhealthy lifestyles like smoking due to peers without realizing the danger they are exposing themselves to (Heng, 2007). Many Indian school-going children smoke as it is seen as fashionable.
3. Marketing of unhealthy foods to the youths is prevalent and it undermines all the efforts put in place by the government agencies to curb the habit. Global brands of junk food appeal at the expense of healthy foods (Unhealthy Foods, 2008).
4. Obesity in the youth is a global crisis that is escalating. The percentage for obesity in school children is 16.1% in Singapore, 14.3% in Thailand (Cook n.d).
5. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise in the Asia Pacific as a result of demographic and epidemiological transitions and are the leading causes of death (Noncommunicable Diseases n.d). For example, people move to towns and take up sedentary jobs, and are unaware of the danger these diseases pose. The graph below shows the number of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases and the figures rise in each consecutive year
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6. Some social norms view fat children as healthy and thin ones are considered to be sick thus children are given junk food to make them fatter (Noncommunicable Diseases n.d).
7. The food the youth love eating has sugar or salt above the recommended levels.
8. Poor diet, physical inactivity, hereditary genes, hormone imbalance, slow metabolism, environmental factors, friends, sedentary activities, and emotional problems (cook, 2009).

Analysis and Discussion

The youths are at risk of contracting heart diseases due to the modern lifestyle they are living. The primary causes of heart diseases have been made worse by the sedentary lifestyle of young people. Therefore exercise is almost non-existent for most youths. The problem is similar in both developed and developing countries. For instance, the USA has the highest number of obese children among the developed countries and studies have found that these children underperform in school. In the Singapore situation, most of the youths continue to become exposed to diseases because they want to do what everybody else is doing. For instance taking alcohol, smoking. Yet these habits have detrimental effects on their health. Countries have come up with school-based activities to encourage lifestyles among the youths because they are the future of the countries.

Conclusions

The youths are leading unhealthy lifestyles under the watchful eyes of their parents. Some parents allow their children to buy unhealthy foods probably because they do not have time to cook. The children are overweight due to the junk food they consume. They do not have enough knowledge about healthy eating thus are unable to make wise choices when it comes to food.

The era of information has also contributed to the problem of unhealthy lifestyles among the youths in Singapore. Most of the youths spend a lot of their free time sitting behind televisions, computers on social networks. These activities do not require much physical effort and therefore they gain extra weight.

The government’s efforts to reach the youth have not been very successful and more needs to be done to reverse the youths’ lifestyles.

Recommendations

1. The government should impose strict rules against the companies that market junk food to school children. They should stick to the recommended calorie levels and stop the use of cartoon characters and celebrities in food advertisements.
2. School lifestyles should be adapted in every learning institution. The lifestyle should aim to encourage the young children to avoid habits like: smoking, alcohol and drugs, sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary habits, and behavior that may lead to injury. These habits are the basis for unhealthy lifestyles that the youth learn early in life and carry them to adulthood. Thus it would be important to curb the problem at the roots.
3. Parents, teachers, and the governments should work hand in hand to reinforce healthy life practices. It has been found out that children are taught healthy eating habits yet some of their parents eat unhealthy food thus they do not heed the advice given.
4. The youths should be encouraged to seek help when they experience stress from the pressures of school, family, and friends. Schools should encourage the students to use the counseling services offered. This will help to reduce the depression of the immune system which leads to diseases.
5. Parents should be educated about the dangers of being overweight.

Reference list

Cook, D. n.d. Obesity Epidemic in Youth. Web.

Heng, C.H. (2007). The 14th Biennial School Nurses International Conference. Web.

Marketing unhealthy food to children in Asia Pacific (2008). Web.

Priority noncommunicable diseases and conditions n.d. Web.